Bedouin rights group: 15 families forced to flee Jordan Valley community due to settler harassment

Fifteen families dismantled their homes and left the West Bank Bedouin community of Ras Ein el-Auja this morning due to ongoing settler harassment, Bedouin human rights organization Al-Bidar says, less than a month after a new settler outpost was set up close to the community in the Jordan Valley.

The group says there is a “lack of any real protection” and accuses Israeli forces of providing cover for the harassment.

According to left-wing Israeli group B’Tselem, 26 other families left the livestock-based community on January 8, a week after settlers set up a new outpost less than 500 meters (545 yards), or within grazing distance, from their homes. Two families had already left in August, the rights group says.

The community was originally home to some 700 people from more than 100 families that have lived there for decades.

B’Tselem says the settler intimidation has included daily acts of violence committed by young Israelis — some of them minors — as well as armed settlers backed by military and police forces. The settlers carry out daily incursions into the community’s territory, theft of the livestock belonging to the Bedouin community, vandalism of property and physical attacks on residents, the group says.

AP contributed to this report.